Daring Do and the Griffon's Goblet
by sara t. fontanini
Summary: Daring Do must track down the missing Griffion's Goblet, an ancient artifact of Griffon culture. However, as she searches for it, she finds there are forces at work behind the scenes with nefarious plans for the goblet.


Polo House Publishing Proudly Presents

Daring DO and the Griffon's Goblet

By

Edited by Hard Cover

Chapter 1

Daring Do, legendary explore and treasure hunter, stood before her class at the Royal Canterlot University with a disarming smile. "Now, archaeology is not for everypony. It can gruelling hard work sometimes, and often will not pay off as you wish. And it is not glamorous. Most archaeology is spent in archives, reading over books, tomes, scrolls, even ancient texts written in languages long since forgotten and taught only in obscure university lectures, because what you seek isn't obvious and isn't signposted obviously. Contrary to popular belief, there is no large checkmark indicating the right place. However, there is no greater thrill in the world, at least in my opinion, than the feeling you get when you feel you're on to something, when you finally unearth an artefact long thought to have been lost to time or to have been a myth. Now, any questions?"

The door to the classroom opened, revealing Tabula Rasa, Daring's friend and colleague, Tabula Rasa, Head of the University's Department of Arcane Magic and Astrology. Tabula Rasa had a lavender coat and a darker purple mane and tail marked with two streaks of silver, her mane pulled up into a tight bun. She wore a brown skirt, a green vest underneath which was a white blouse and of course her simple rectangular glasses. "Daring, I'm sorry to interrupt your class, but it's important University business."

Daring Do Shrugged and smiled at her class. "Alright class, I'll have to cut this short. But don't forget to think on what I said!" She called out as she trotted out the room beside Tabula Rasa.

As they walked down the hallway, they passed a grey stallion wearing small round glasses with a coffee mug cutie mark. Daring grinned at him. "Hey Herpy, how are you studies progressing?"

"Oh quite well—"As he turned to her he tripped and fell to his side. "Ah!"

Daring winced apologetically. "Sorry! You really need to have that inner ear problem looked at Herpy!"

He simply sighed and got up on his hooves, Rasa pulling Daring along with her. "Come along now, we mustn't dally!"

Daring chuckled. "What's the big rush?"

"Well the site where the fabled Griffon's Goblet has been discovered, however it's not going to be a simple matter of sending you to some exotic location and having you grab it. You and Storm Talon will be representing the University while you are sent via the Griffon Embassy towards the Griffon Kingdoms, where a summit will be held to determine what will actually be done about the Goblet."

"Well that sounds tedious..." Daring grumbled in annoyance.

"It can't be helped, this is a very delicate situation and if things don't go well we could end up having to deal with worse relations between the Griffon Kingdom. Don't worry; you will have Storm Talon at your side backing you up."

"Why is Storm Talon tagging along anyway?"

Rasa just gazed at her with a half-lidded stare.

"Oh right..." Daring replied bashfully, rubbing the back of her head with her hoof.

Rasa led her down through the University's front entrance where two figures stood. Daring recognised one as Storm Talon, a black feathered griffon, the areas around his eyes was discoloured; one being a scar from an injury Storm had suffered in the war, the other merely dyed for the sake of symmetry. His hindleg was gone, replaced by a metal prosthetic, as was his tail. These injuries were what led to him leaving his homeland and taking a job at the university, that and other reasons he didn't discuss. The other was at once familiar and unexpected: her young brother, Darrin. His coat and mane were of a similar colouring to hers, though his coat was a lighter shade and his mane was darker, however his build was far bulkier and he was slightly taller than her. He smiled at her with a wink.

"Hey big sis." He smiled warmly. "Miss your little bro?"

"Oh of course you big lug!" She hugged him tightly, wrapping her hooves around his neck. "But what are you doing here in the first place?"

"Well, other than wanting to hang out with, I thought you could use a little extra help. I'm always willing help you out, Daring. You know that."

"It's appreciated, but I think I can handle this. Besides, I've got Storm Talon coming along with me, so it's not like I'll be alone. Plus, I'm sure the university would be willing to pay any expenses necessary."

"Actually it's already paid for!" A new pony spoke up and Daring turned to see local merchant (and a pony daring often had to deal with) Chocolat' Jasmina Pie, known by most as Coco Pie, a light green pony mare with earthy brown mane and tail, which were very curly and puffy looking. She wore a green khaki jacket and her back was covered in large bags filled with her merchandise. "Darrin paid me for everything you'll need personally, and at a major discount! No need to thank me, I'm always willing to help out a friend!" She grinned wide.

"Discount!?" Darrin exclaimed. "I paid an awful lot for a discount!"

Coco's hair defalted and fell down straight like a curtain, the colour of ehr mane also becoming far darker than normal. Her gaze became more serious. "The deal I gave you was rather fair, of course if you wish to discuss it, we can have some negotiations in private." Her gaze spoke volumes on what she would do to him, none of them pretty.

The Pegasus stallion gulped. "On second thought, I agree! It was a fair price!" He grinned nervously.

Coco's mane returned to its normal shape and colour. "Yay!"

Strom Talon leaned in to whisper in Daring's ear. "Daring, no offense, but you have some &*#%& weird friends."

"None taken." Daring said with a shrug. "So, where are we off to?"

"Well first we'll be renting Coco's airship and travel to Manehatten, where the Griffon Embassy is, then we'll a public airship with the Ambassador and his aide." Darrin replied.

"Oh I never visited the Embassy before." Daring said. "What is the Ambassador like?"

Storm Talon frowned. "I met him once. I didn't &%$ like him."

Elsehwhere, at the Griffon Embassy of Equestria, an important meeting was taking place. A silvery feathered griffon with dark coated hindquarters stood primly with a contingent of pony employees who worked at the embassy.

"Double check all preparations for our journey to the homelands; we do NOT want anything going wrong. Our guests will be arriving shortly, so please make sure they at least have something to eat before we make the long trip."

"Yes, Mr Ambassador."One of the office temps said.

"Oh, you must be new." The Griffon smiled slightly. "I am not the ambassador, merely his aide."

"Oh...then...who is the ambassador then?"

Suddenly, the doors flung open and a much larger, much more overweight Griffon stepped inside. His wings were a dark brown much like his hindquarters and the rest of his feathers were a light shade of brown. His cheeks were red, his gait unsteady, and his eyes unfocused. "What do you do with a drunken Griffon, what do you do with a drunken Griffon, what do you do with a drunken Griffon, Early in the morning!" He sang as he shakily walked towards the meeting. "Hoorah, up she rises, hoorah, up she rises, hoorah, up she rises!...Early in the morning!" He then fell to the ground, flat on his face.

"THAT would be Ambassador Hawkwings." The aide, Platinius, answered with a stoic expression, turning back towards the ponies. Now, hopefully with that out of the way, we can continue. As I was saying, there is some concern about gem imports potentially depressing the economy over in..."

"Annnnnd another shing..." The Ambassador said as he rose up slowly. "How do you poniesh pick shingsh with your hoooovesh? I've been here for yearsh and I still don't figure...know...out...how? You don't have clawsh like minotaursh or talonsh like dragonsh or even fingersh like ush mighty griffonsh..." He fell over again as he passed out, hitting the floor with a loud thump.

The office temp who had spoken before stared at the sight while no one else spoke for a horribly long time.

"THAT'S the ambassador of the griffon homelands?" He asked incredulously.

"Yes." Platinius answered simply.

"And YOU'RE the assistant?"

"Yes."

"And it's not the other way around because...?"

"Well it's kind of our shtick." The Ambassador's aide shrugged simply and then gave the temp a stony gaze. "For the love of your Celestia, please ruin it. Now then, about the gem imports..."

_OOC AN: alright, so this is my attempt at defictionalising at least one of the Daring Do books as described on Tvtropes. Now, Some scenes I am not happy with (namely the introduction of Herpy and Coco Pie as well as some other small niggles) but due to general laziness and being unable to think of anything better, I'll stick with these scenes as is for now. Hope you all enjoy as we continue this series. Hopefully, this will be the last time I'll have to do an AN for this series, considering it breaks immersion...Hope you all enjoy it and continue reading, and please comment!_


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